Saturday, September 9, 2017

In the spirit of Rick Priestley’s classic grav-attack build, this contest challenges converters, hobbyists, and scratchbuilders to create a model to be used for tabletop wargaming using random bits of stuff and a lot of creativity. Many of the skills of being a strong miniature hobbyist will be needed to do well in this contest, not only construction and painting but also photography, concept creation,miniature painting, and terrain set-up.

What to Enter:

Contestants will construct and paint a vehicle or structure inspired by the terms ASSAULT/SIEGE. Concepts do not have to be military in nature and can embody any ideas that the entrant sees as viable.

The required bit is a medicine package. From pill bottles to blister packs, any bit that once held or dispensed some sort of medicine is valid

Each entry must contain at least onemedicine packageas part of the construction. All other parts can be from any model kits, toys, throw-away plastic items etc or scratchbuilt from other materials. Judges will be looking for clever repurposing of items and skill in making them unrecognizable on the final model.

Other materials such as plasticard, putty, wire, etc are acceptable but fully covered over and sculpted entries will not score well.

Any scales supported by existing miniature or model ranges are acceptable. This will be necessary for the final picture of your entry unless you wish to sculpt your own troops as well.

Contest Requirements:

A 200 word or less description of your model should be included with each entry. Explain what type of vehicle or building you have constructed, where it is usually found, what its capabilities are, etc. The scale of your model should be given in this description.

A total of five images must be submitted to be eligible for judging:

3 pictures of the final painted vehicle or building on a neutral background showing the three views that best show the construction and finishing of the entry.

1 picture of the unpainted vehicle or building along with a list of what materials were used in the construction. If you don’t remember what a particular bit is don’t put it on the list.

1 picture of the final painted vehicle or building set in a gaming environment along with painted miniatures of the troops associated with it. This will be a showpiece image and a great chance to really sell your concept. Use of terrain and foliage is expected for this final shot.

No retouching or special effects other than basic photo correction will be allowed on submitted images. Any images showing added effects will be disqualified.

Good, clear photography is expected and will be considered in final judgement. Images should be high quality jpegs no larger than 1 MB per image.

Each image should be titled as follows: your_name1.jpeg, your_name2.jpeg, etc.

(And anyone sending me files that are actually titled “your_name.jpg” will be an automatic ninny-hammer.)

Please include 200 word description and parts list with the same email.

Limit one entry per person. Only entries that have not appeared elsewhere will be accepted. Please wait to post "work in progress" articles until after the winners have been announced.

Our panel of judges will choose a first place, second place, and third place winner. All decisions of the judges are absolutely final.

How to Enter:

Send all required images and text to Brian Roe at hellbox45@hotmail.com no later than October 10, 2017.

Make sure to check these folks out and thank them for their support by ordering lots of cool stuff from them!

This contest is put forth in a spirit of fair play and mutual respect. Any entries that contain offensive material will not be considered for entry. Be cool and creative but don’t build anything you wouldn’t show your mom. Any entry can be refused for any reason especially for not adhering to the basic spirit of fair play.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

I had just enough time this week to sneak in an entry to the Beware Mutants Competition on The Emporium of Rogue Dreams. The entries were generated using the random mutant rules in the original Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader rulebook and unpainted and painted versions were required.

I chose a human as a base model, no way I'm chopping up my rare RT squats, and rolled for three mutations. I got Skull face, Moronic, and Very warty skin. Nothing that would really help the character in a fight and Moronic means that he must make a test every time that he tries to use any sort of technology. And that he's completely unable to open milk cartons or yogurt containers.

The body is a Major Magnam mini from Rogue Trooper with a skull head from a Screaming Skull Catapult crew man. I sculpted a thick covering of warts on his arms and neck and added a plastic lasgun. Of course at this point he's missed his Moronic test and is waving it like a wand hoping that hot light comes out of it.

I also Photoshopped a Chapter Approved: Book of the Astronomicon style stat sheet for Ol' Knobby and created a blank version so others could use it. The main font seems to be Sudbury Book which is easy to find for free online. The main header is Arial Black.

Although the rolls made for a pretty pathetic mutant, I had a fun time converting and painting this little fella and coming up with his back story. Plus I used all Rogue Trader era bits which makes me extra happy. :)

Monday, April 17, 2017

I was doing my occasional Googling for John Dennett's Warbots information and came across this ad on Philip Reed's blog Battlegrip. The ad was a half page in Dragon Magazine of April 1985 and I'm assuming that the artwork is John's.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

With the relaunch of Mystery Science Theater 3000 just around the corner, I've been really curious about the new costumes and sets. Felicia Day recently posted an image of her and Patton Oswalt in their costumes as Kinga Forrester and TV's Son of TV's Frank. So I felt compelled to try to recreate the patch design on their uniforms.

It seems to be based somewhat on my beloved Ro-Man "Robot Monster" and incorporates four colored hexes which seem to recall some sort of existing visual system that I'm unaware of. If anyone knows what they are supposed to mean please let me know in the comments.

I'm a massive fan of MST3K and Patton Oswalt so I'm chuffed as punch to see the new episodes. Push the button TV's Son of TV's Frank!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Alex Bates at Forge of Ice is brilliant at coming up with bizarre minis that I don't know I need until I see them. This entelodont, sometimes falsely called a "hell-pig" or "terminator-pig", is just such a miniature. Alex had asked me to design a few bases for him so I used my laser cutter to create a tile pattern and then sculpted vines to show an ancient civilization being overtaken by jungle.

As part of my compensation for the bases Alex sent me two of the entelodonts so I quickly assembled and painted one. Assembly is a breeze, pin the head on and add a bit of green stuff to soften the join. Then just drybrushing and washing to capture the fur texture. I based the color scheme on this excellent rendering by Masato Hattori.

The base was painted and then had static grass and jute twine added.

Overall this is a solid mini that reads perfectly as the overpowered beast it's meant to represent. Matt truly captured the musculature and forward motion of such a beast. It was a blast to paint.